If there’s one thing you should know about Taylor Swift, it’s that she’s literally a mastermind. Her fans are always working to find hidden meanings behind her lyrics and social media posts. With the drop of her newest album set for April 19, Swift has confirmed one recent fan theory, and let’s just say us Swifties are not OK.
To set the scene, fans were already shocked when what seemed to be the announcement of Reputation (Taylor’s Version) turned out to be the announcement of a whole new album, The Tortured Poets Department. Fans were quick to speculate that this album might allude to the breakup between Swift and her long-term boyfriend, Joe Alwyn. Even further, once Swift released the track list, there seemed to be some clear nods towards the ex. After all, we know Swift isn’t shy when it comes to writing about past relationships.
But now, Swift has released five carefully curated playlists on Apple Music, each one representing a different stage of heartbreak — and the narrative they paint for her and Alwyn’s relationship across her other album eras is shocking.
Each playlist, named after a track from The Tortured Poets Department, features songs from Swift’s previous albums throughout her career. In a voice recording at the beginning of each playlist, Swift explains that the songs were written in moments of either denial, anger, bargaining, depression, or acceptance — the five stages of grief — which fans were not too far-off on when theorizing the inspiration for the playlists.
While it’s no surprise that Swift included breakup songs like “You’re Losing Me” and “Dear John” in the mix, what took listeners by surprise was the inclusion of songs that seem to be about true love. In Swift’s denial playlist, called “I Love You, It’s Ruining My Life Songs,” she included tracks like “Lavender Haze” and “Sweet Nothing” from the Midnights album and “Lover” from the album of the same name.
Just when you thought it ended there, Swift included a whopping 11 total songs from her Lover album and zero from Reputation! This can’t help but make you wonder if this is because Reputation (Taylor’s Version) hasn’t been released yet, or if (in my opinion, the more interesting theory) Reputation is the only album with genuine love songs.
Because Reputation was released at the beginning of Swift and Alwyn’s relationship, is it possible that each subsequent album correlates with the true stability of their relationship at the time?
I mean, how is it even possible that the dreamy ballad “Lover” ties into themes of heartbreak? As Swift introduces her denial playlist, she describes her experience of being so wrapped up in the idea of something that you miss the red flags. So, while Lover initially seemed like a heartfelt declaration of love, in hindsight, it appears that things may not have been as perfect as they seemed.
When you revisit the lyrics, I can see how its charming tune disguised such issues. Swift wrote the song about Alwyn after almost three years of dating, yet she presents it as if she’s proposing their relationship to him. She talks about hypothetical situations using the words “could” and asking for them to stay close, rather than indicating that the scenarios were actually happening. Some fans even connect lines like “at every table, I’ll save you a seat” to Alwyn’s infrequent public appearances with Swift due to his dislike for being in the spotlight.
Moving forward, sister albums Folklore and Evermore adopt more somber moods, despite the continuation of the two’s relationship. The albums are characterized as folk storytelling, leaning towards fictional rather than biographical — at least, that’s how Swift always portrayed them. However, I can’t shake the feeling that it’s unusual for someone in a healthy relationship, like she was at the time, to write such heart-wrenching tunes. For example, “Tolerate It” is a sorrowful number about deeply loving someone who doesn’t reciprocate it. Sure, Swift is an exceptional songwriter, but part of me finds it hard to believe she could craft something so raw and emotional without drawing from personal experience. While she may have labeled this as one of her “fictional” pieces, the song now finds its place in her “angry” playlist titled “You Don’t Get to Tell Me About Sad Songs,” so do we really still buy into this notion?
That brings us to Midnights, her most recent album. While some love songs are sprinkled throughout, it’s evident that the album is full of themes of anxiety and depression. After the official announcement of her breakup with Alwyn after six years, Swift even dropped some bonus tracks, including the song “You’re Losing Me,” which hints at the possible issues the couple faced that ultimately led to the end of their relationship. It wasn’t apparent until afterward, but there’s a possibility that Midnights reflects Swift’s emotions during her final attempts to salvage the relationship before finally calling it quits.
Now, there is no telling what Swift’s true thought process was behind each song during the time she dated Joe Alwyn, but it sure is interesting to see the way she categorizes her songs now through her recent playlists. Through all of her hidden Easter eggs, one thing remains clear: Nobody is prepared for what she has up her sleeve on April 19 when The Tortured Poets Department is released.
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